2 Kings 7:10So they went and called out to the gatekeepers of the city, saying, "We went to the Aramean camp and no one was there--not a trace--only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents were intact."

Nehemiah 3:1At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.

Nehemiah 6:1When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left--though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates--

Nehemiah 6:15So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul.

Nehemiah 6:19Moreover, these nobles kept reporting to me Tobiah's good deeds, and they relayed my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

Treasury of Scripture

Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed,

the wall

Nehemiah 3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.

Nehemiah 6:15 So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.

I had set up

Nehemiah 3:3 But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

Nehemiah 6:1 Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)

the porters

Nehemiah 10:39 For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the corn, of the new wine, and the oil, unto the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.

Nehemiah 11:3 Now these are the chief of the province that dwelt in Jerusalem: but in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession in their cities, to wit, Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants.

Nehemiah 12:24 And the chief of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over against ward.

(1-4) Measures were taken for the security of the city, now made a complete fortress. The comparative thinness of the population taxed the governor's resources, and the result appears at a later stage.

(1) Were appointed.--Placed in charge, probably over all the walls. This was an extraordinary provision, to be explained by the fact that these organised bodies formed a large proportion of the inhabitants. The Levites had usually guarded only the Temple.

(2) Hanani.--Who probably had returned from Susa with his brother.

Hananiah the ruler of the palace.--Commander of the fortress, as in Nehemiah 2:8. He was in the immediate service of the Persian king, but his chief recommendation was his piety, which distinguished him from too many of the other rulers.

(3) Until the sun be hot.--General directions were given that the gates should not be thrown open so early as sunrise; they were to be opened and barred again while the guard was present; and the inhabitants were to be divided for night-watches, part on the walls and part before their own houses.

(4) Large and great.--Literally, broad on both sides, with large unoccupied spaces.

The houses were not builded.--In sufficient numbers to provide the requisite population for the city of God. The emphasis is on the fact that the people were few.

Verse 1. - The porters and the singers and the Levites. The porters and the singers were themselves Levites, but are often distinguished from their brethren, who had no such special office (see Ezra 2:40-42, 70; Ezra 7:24; Ezra 10:23, 24; Nehemiah 7:43-45, 73; Nehemiah 10:28, etc.). Nehemiah's choice of Levites to guard the gates of Jerusalem may seem strange; but we must remember -

7:1-4 Nehemiah, having finished the wall, returned to the Persian court, and came to Jerusalem again with a new commission. The public safety depends on every one's care to guard himself and his family against sin.